5 Vampire Fairy Tales

Article by Ty Hulse

RavensShire.com's guide to Vampires in fairy tales. Some of these fairy tales are translated into English here for the first time.

"Light cannot banish the darkness, it can only hold it at bay, 

while making it impossible for our eyes to adjust to the night, 

to the darkness beyond the little circle of light..."

Vampire tales, tend to be short encounters with the dark world, only a very few of them are long and descriptive. This is good, because these tales can act as quick writing prompts to help inspire your own horror stories.



The Vampire and St Micheal

A young man who everyone makes fun of as a fool is traveling through a kingdom where the Princess becomes a vampire. In sorrow the king orders that every traveler reads prayers over her body in hopes that she can be cured. One by one the travelers are sent to her, and one by one their bones are cleaned up in the morning, until at last it's the boys turn.

Keep in mind:

There was very little difference between religion and magic in Europe. Indeed the Roman's thought of magic as simply being religious formulas turned to self serving ends. So the boy in this story very closely resembles the idea of what a wizard would be.

 Being a fool was a sign that he existed outside societies system and rules. Very much like a modern day nerd. This existing outside societies rules gave people magical powers, allowing them to become witches, shamans, etc.

St. Micheal in this story fits the idea of familiar spirits, such as witch's cats, or cunnings fairies.



Boyfriend Vampire

Once upon a boy and a girl, who loved each other, but the young man died and became a vampire, though the girl didn't know this. So that night, when she was alone in the house, the vampire came. But while vampires can enter unclean homes, the girls home was clean, so the vampire dared not enter.
So he called up to the girl's window in his familiar and loving voice, and so lured her out into the night. Although she was still undressed, he convinced her that it was urgent that she come with him, and so he took her hand and led her to his tomb.
"Come in," ordered a vampire.
"No, one heart, I'm afraid," she said.
Then he went in first, and called,  "Come on hurry!"
"Wait," the girl said, "I lost beads. It must be around here have fallen. "Then she began to run, and ran until he came to the house, the windows of which light was on. The girl on the bench came in and saw the dead man named Abram. Closing the door on the latch, she hid on the stove. A deceived vampire ran after her, and when he came to the house he banged on the window and shouted, "Abram, open the door!"
The corpse rose up to open the door.
The girl desperately looked around for some means of escape, and at last saw cock.
"Please crow, dear cock," the girl begged.
"It's still early to crow," the cock told her.
"Please, crow," the girl pleaded.
"Very well, because you are clean and of pure soul, I'll crow early for you," the cock agreed. So the cock crowed and Abram fell to the ground, unable to move at the sound.
So the girl was able to escape because she had always been good.


A Party With Vampires

In a poor village, the young boys and girls would gather for parties in abandoned houses. Here they would should so loudly and have so much fun you could hear them clear on the other side of the village. They danced about, and the boys did tricks to impress the girls and soon they were all shaking with laughter.
Late one night when they were partying, three unknown young men came into the party.
"Good evening," they greeted each other and joined to the general merriment. While others Balagura, one of the girls dropped spindle. It rolled under the feet of the guests, and when she bent to pick it up she noticed that the boys had hooves instead of feet (according to another version, she saw their tails).
What to do?
The girl whispered girlfriends, warning them that the boys were actually vampires. One by one the people began to slip away from the party to flee, but they forgot one girl who was napping behind the stove.
When they realized that she was missing the next day the girls and boys went to the empty home. As they approached, they saw her smiling face in the window and so breathed a sigh of relief.
The girl's sister ran forward, happy to see that her sister was alright, but when she got into the house she started screaming. Her sister's face had been sliced into a permanent smile, her head placed on a stake by the window. Her guts were hung about the room on nails.
The Girl Who Marries a Vampire

There once was a woman who fell in love with a young man who seemed perfect in every way. At last the two of them were married and the women went to the young man to his house. He led her into the kitchen, where he had a girl hanging from meat hooks, for the young man was really a vampire.
"Cook this girl for our supper," the vampire told his new bride.
The girl began to weep, and she refused to do as the vampire asked, so the vampire hung her up on meat hooks and well.
The vampire feasted for many days, but eventually his food ran out, so he went back to his now deceased brides home, and told the bride's little sister that his wife was sick and wanted to see her. So he led the sister back to his house, where he hung her up as well and feasted for a number of days. Eventually he was hungry again so he went back to his brides house and there he told the youngest sister that both sisters had become sick and wanted to see her.
Thu youngest sister, however, was suspicious of him, so when he led her to his house, she pretended to need to use the privy before he showed her the kitchen, and peeked about the house, where on she discovered the human bones. Scared she climbed out a window and fled straight away to the village to tell the people what she'd seen.
Soon the village came in a mob and found the vampire, and burned him and his house down.

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The Deceived Vampire

An Armenian folk tale about a vampire who offers to help a young man rescue his sister from a king who has kidnapped her.

What you should know

Vampires in Armenian lore were typically children who died without becoming part of the community, thus they were liminal beings, with both male and female parts. They tended to be twisted monstrosities, that loved to haunt and rape both men and women in their sleep. Though like all vampires, they drained people's blood from them as well.

These vampires had a magical jacket which allowed them to turn invisible, and if this jacket was burned they would die.

Sorcerers often used the unclean dead or nature spirits to help them win fights.


There was once an impoverished brother and sister whose parents died. So the brother told his sister, "Let us go out into the world, for there is nothing for us here"
So they left home and wandered the world for some time. Eventually they came to a forest where they built a small house. Here the young man hunted for their food, while his sister made clothing, and performed other household chores.
So time passed, with one day waning into another, and before they knew it three years had passed.
Then one day the young man told his sister,  "I'm going to go into town to sell the many skins I've hunted over the years so that we can at last have money."
As he journeyed to town he strew ashes on the ground behind him so he could find his way home again. Eventually he came in a royal city, where he very soon sold the skins of animals, so that he could buy more hunting supplies, clothes, and many good things.When he was done he returned home to his sister.
A few days later he returned to the city, once more laden with furs. So wonderful were his furs that it wasn't long before people began to talk to him, and they soon learned of his beautiful sister in the woods. When the servants of the king followed him to learn more they saw that the young mans sister was indeed beautiful, so they went and reported what they had seen to their lord.
Now the king, the was still unmarried, so when the young man returned to town he went into the woods asked the man's sister to come and live with him as his concubine.
Indignant at the suggestion of becoming a concubine the sister rejected the king. She tried to flee, but the Kings servants had horses and soon caught her and drug her by force to the king's castle.
When the boy returned, he was unable to find out what had happened to his sister, though he looked for a long time. So he was left to live alone and sad in the forest.
 The beautiful maiden was no less sad day, for she was the kings prisoner,  and he pressed her every day to agree to be his wife, but she refused all his requests steadfast. Though all the time he wooed, her the king tried to keep the girl a secret, but vampires go nearly everywhere and learn nearly everything.
One of these vampires went to the young man in the woods.
"Hello," the vampire greeted the young man. "I've just come from the royal castle, where I wait every night watching your beautiful sister. Ha, ha, but she is so beautiful that we vampires wait at her bedside all night, but we can do nothing for she always is careful to wear a crucifix around her neck. So I've decided to tell you that she was taken to the palace against her will by the King, but I will help you free her if you promise to let me spend a night with her."
Stunned at the news that his sister was still alive, and unable to think of a way to free her by himself he agreed to these terms.
"Go to the castle and challenge the king to a duel," the vampire told the young man. "Although he has never lost a fight, I will stand invisible beside you during your duel and aid you so you will win."
The young man went to the royal palace, and there he insulted the king and challenged him to a duel.
The smiling king replied, "Do you know who I am?" I'm the greatest warrior in the world. I have never lost a battle, so who are you to challenge me?
The young man, however, would not be put off, so he challenged the king again.
The king, not wanting to kill the girl's brother just yet, agreed only to wrestle the young man. When the two of them got into the right to fight, the king tried to throw the boy, but he could not budge the boy, no matter how hard he tried. Then all at once the king found himself lifted up into the air, before being tossed down with so much force he sank down into the hard ground. A second time the king was lifted into the air, and a second time he was thrown so hard that he had to climb up out of the crater created by his fall. The young man knocked the king down again, and held, him fast. He then told the servants that if they valued the kings life they would go and fetch his sister.
When his sister was brought back to him, the young man asked her what he should do with the king, and she told him to forgive the man, for while he was wicked love was often blind. Hearing that his sister forgave the king the young man did as well. When they were leaving, however, the king threw himself at the girls feet, begging her to be his wife. He promised that if she agreed, she and her brother would be happy forever after. Feeling bad for him she consented, and so a date for the wedding was set.

Yes, but what of the vampire!

The young man had made a deal with the monster, a deal he had never intended to keep. That night the vampire came to the youth; "remember your promise," the vampire whispered.
"I remember," the young man assured the vampire. "Come into my sisters room."
The vampire entered into the room, but arrangements had already been made. The sister had been covered in holy water so that the vampire was stunned the moment he touched her, and garlic was scattered about so that he lost his invisibility. Unable to move, the vampires jacket was burned and his soul was sped to the after life, as is the soul of every Christian man after death.
The wedding was held with great splendor now, and the royal couple lived a long time in happiness and peace.

 

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Be Inspired by Loki

The Liminal Trickster

Loki lays screaming in agony as she pushes again, her muscles burning from exhaustion, her womb opening up. Her breath comes short and shallow, in painful bursts.

After hours of struggle, hours of labor, Loki gives birth to an eight legged horse, the horse that will become Odin's mount, who will carry Odin both when he and Loki are brothers, and later when they are enemies, and will ultimately help to kill Loki who is her mother.

Loki could be male or female, and in both forms she/he had many strange children, massive wolves, deadly snakes, and eight legged horses.

Loki is a confusing being, one who like many trickster figures is both good and bad, creator and destroy.

To understand Loki we must understand both European Shamanism, and the neighboring Ugric people's, from whom the Norse may have borrowed many of their ideas about Loki and Odin. In fact among the Nganasan we find another mention of another Liminal being which give birth to eight legged reindeer (you can find some useful information on Nganasan spirits here). This being, like Loki gives this eight legged animal to a powerful shaman. Like Loki these liminal beings sought to help humanity.

Yet something happens between the moment that Loki gives birth to Odin's most important companion and when is captured and tortured by the other gods for a number of crimes, which eventually leads him/her to lead an army that will bring about the apocalypse. As a writer, you have a number of options here that you can choose to follow.

1-Duealistic
Ancient gods are duelsitic, that is they are their own opposites. In Greece the Virgin Goddess is the Goddess of Childbirth, in Japan the Kami of Education is also a Kami of Disasters, so it would make sense that in Scandinavian lore the god/dess of birth and fertility is also the bringer of the apocalypse. In this case, Loki would have multiple souls and a serious case of multi-personality disorder, but then again so would every god and spirit.

2-Loki is Good
In Greek Lore Zeus punished Prometheus for being kind to and helping humanity. Equally as important, the Greeks and Romans seem to have believed at times that when the Titan Kronos ruled the world life was better for humanity. In other words, Zeus didn't make humans, he lied about that after he took over. By the same token, perhaps since Loki comes from outside the systems of gods she/he is in fact, trying to defend humanity against the fickleness of the other deities, who control the narrative that humans hear.

3-Loki is bitter
Odin, Thor, and the rest of them did, many cruel and mean things, which may have made Loki bitter and dangerous.

4-Loki really is a greedy, conniving villain.
I put this last because it's been done, a lot. Perhaps, however, Loki really is a cruel deity who only cares for his own greedy ambitions.

Ravens Shire is dedicated to helping writers and artists learn about the strange world of fairy tales, so if you have any questions or need any help understanding the fairy realm, please contact us.

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Celtic Food and Fairy Tales

Article by Ty Hulse

Five Celtic Fairy Tales to Inspire You

When the Celts still ruled most of Europe food was a defining part of people's culture,  more than it ever could be now. For at one time most of the population was engaged in gathering and or harvesting their own food, so the food people ate changed the way they lived, the stories they told, and what they believed about the fairies. This is nowhere better exemplified than among the Celtic peoples. Irish food, Scottish Food, and Welsh Food, among other Celtic recipes all have their own stories, their own myths told about them.

This is the first part of a series on Celtic food and how it affected their folklore, the other parts which will include fish, oats, and nutmeg will be released in the future.

Cheese, Butter and Milk

Before potatoes, or any of the modern foods; milk, cheese, curds, and butter were the most important foods to the Celts. Nearly everyone had a cow, goats, or sheep except for those so poor they were starving or those few who were rich enough to buy butter and cheese from those who did have cows. Indeed the primary food during the summer in Ireland was milk, curds, and butter. Thus, their most tragic stories are tales cattle raids, of people whose cows wander off, of evil spirits which curse cows, and of course of fairies stealing cows. In this latter case people would at times threaten war with the fairies for the theft of the cow, blood feuds were a common result. By the same token their greatest heroes were the ones who would steal cows from others, or protect, and bless their cows.

There were also those few who would share their milk and butter with the fairies and witches of the land and so be blessed because of this. In one tale, a man shares his milk with some starving fairy refugees, who then keep him safe from his landlord who tries to drive him off the land (attacking any police who come to evict him).

The importance of cows in this case is more than just fodder for stories, or an interesting footnote in the annals of a culture. Caring for a cow defines the way people live. People have to milk the cow on a schedule, limiting what they can do, and when they can do it. Cows need to be fed, even in the winter time when fodder might be hard to get a hold of, kept warm, kept safe. Think about those people who are obsessed with their car, now imagine if they would starve to death without it. More than this, imagine that the car was actually alive; and you might get some idea of what it was like to own a cow during Once Upon a Time.

One woman suffering from starvation after her cow dies, finds herself starving and in the depths of despair when the fairies appear to her and offer to make her a witch. It was fairly typical for the fairies to appear to those who were desperate, at their lowest point, and in this case the woman's lowest point was when her cow had died. This was the easiest time for the fairies to convince her to become a witch and work for them.

There are also countless ancient folk tales in which people were embarrassed that they didn't have milk to serve to their guests, as this was an important food for proper hospitality. Often magical beings such as saints would create this milk for good people so that they wouldn't be embarrassed.

Goats and Sheep were also extremely important to people's lives. Among the Welsh the Gwyllion were hags which haunted lonely roads and the mountains. Though often depicted as a fearsome monster she clearly is a remnant of something older, for she carries around a pot which is much like what people would use to collect milk. She also has a clear connection with the goats. Here also goats have a special relationship with the Tylwyth Teg (Welsh Fairies) and were often believed to be magical beings in  their own right. Indeed, dead goats could at times become fairies in the form of beautiful maidens with large brown eyes.

Among the Scottish the Glaistig, were beautiful women with a goat's legs, who like many other fairies had a dual aspect. On the one hand, they were kindly watching goat herds and children, but on the other hand, they could become a vicious vampire like monsters, sometimes seeming to change their aspect at night the way werewolves would.

Here too the herding of goats and sheep defines the way people live, because they have to move these animals out of pasture. Further, because of the danger that these animals might run away, or be attacked by wolves, people began to develop a number of ritual ideas about them. Thus, people's lives, often revolved around their cows, sheep, and goats, and the butter and cheese they provided. So the next time you drink a glass of milk, put some cheese on a sandwich, or use butter to make a soup feel a connection with the Celts of the past, whose food has evolved to give you many of these modern day treats.

 

Celtic Food Recipes 
There are many recipes which can be found online, but a few interesting points include the fact that Irish butter and milk were often somewhat sour (though not always). In milk the sour flavor can be imitated to a limited extent by mixing in a bit of sour cream. Irish and European butters are available in stores, though they are pricy.

In the "Vision of MacConglinne" white porridge, made with sheep's milk is discussed as one of the greatest of foods. Indeed the boiling of barley or oats with the milk of animals was a staple food in many Celtic lands.

Others would drink Butter Milk or various other milks with their stews.

There were also a number of ways of quickly making curds. In one of these the Irish would boil their milk, then pour it into some buttermilk so that it would sour and become curds.

They also made curds a number of other ways, which can easily be found online

Welsh Rarebit (rabbit)
There are many recipes for this, but you can find at http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/irish_rarebit_65884

One buttery soup recipe can be found at;
http://kerrygoldusa.com/press-release/roasted-root-vegetable-soup-cheese-toastie-and-brown-soda-bread/
.

A Few Fairy Tales with cows, butter and milk

Fairy Wiles
A boy's cow is stolen by some fairies who need it for their own food.

The Great Fighting Men - Tales of Irish Gods
As to the Morrigu, the Great Queen, the Crow of Battle, where she lived after the coming of the Gael is not known, but before that time it was in Teamhair she lived. And she had a great cooking-spit there, that held three sorts of food on it at the one time: a piece of raw meat, and a piece of dressed meat, and a piece of butter. And the raw was dressed, and the dressed was not burned, and the butter did not melt, and the three together on the spit.

The Vision of MacConglinney (A vision of heaven)
"A lake of new milk I beheld
In the midst of a fair plain,
Therein a well-appointed house,
Thatched with butter.
Puddings fresh boiled,
Such were its thatch-rods,
Its two soft door posts of custard,
Its beds of glorious bacon.
Cheeses were the palisades.....


Ravens Shire is dedicated to helping writers and artists learn about the strange world of fairy tales, so if you have any questions or need any help understanding the fairy realm, please contact us.

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8 Celtic Fairy Tales to Inspire You

Article by Ty Hulse

This is Raven's Shire's guide to short tales of people's encounters with the fairy realm, the other world of Celtic lore. Each of which teaches us something different about the strange world that exists alongside humans. These lessons about the fairy world can be writing prompts for your own tales. Celtic Food and Fairy Tales

The Corpse Watchers
A strangely named story about a girl, who with the help of a fairy, goes on a journey into the land of the dead to bring someone back to life. This little tale has a lot of the most important motifs of the Celtic World of the Dead, making it an interesting read for writers trying to get inspiration for this.

Gulessh Half-Fairy
Important points to keep in mind.

Those in fairy tales who were extremely lazy, who lay by fires were either shamans or half-fairies that lived in dream worlds. In this case I believe Gulessh was a half-fairy because of his constantly black feet (weird feet being a sign of other worldliness)

Half-Fairies often initially got along with regular fairies, but as this tale indicates they wanted the same things as fairies and had no qualms about stealing these things for themselves.

This story also discusses the interesting nature of fairy flights, which are really more like teleportations most of the time.

The Ethna Bride

Fairies have a lot of powers, but so do humans, we just don't realize it most of the time.

This story tells the tale of a king who declares war on the fairies when his wife is kidnapped by them. It was fairly common in Celtic lore for humans to defeat fairies with iron, salt, magical symbols, or druid magic. In fact the humans' ability to defeat the fairies is the reason they were forced to live as refugees despite their many powers.

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Ulter Bosence and the Piskys
The greatest competitive fighter in the land is traveling to another match when he encounters fearful snake headed fairies which can breath fire. The fairies take his fighting skills from him, but leave his family better off since he spends more time devoted to them afterwards.

Beyond just the fairy encounter, however, this tale is also interesting because it discusses the life of a competitive wrestler and boxer during the Victorian Era.

A few points to keep in mind.
1-Fairies were often the enforcers of morality, and while it's not explicitly stated in this tale they may have attacked him on the roadside in order to make him a better person.

2-Fairies would often attack those who didn't believe in them, because while they didn't want to be spied upon, they wanted to be believed in.

3-There is some relationship between fairies and dragons, which isn't explicitly stated in this, but the fact that the fairies appear as fire breathing reptiles does indicate this to some extent. There are a number of other tales which show this possible connection, though it's never stated outright in any of them.



The Pixie Led Traveler
A merchant is trying to travel when a fog rises up that only he can see. Fairies it seems, don't create illusions per say, rather they seem to cause hallucinations.


The Fairy Dwelling on Selena Moor
A man is on his own property when he suddenly finds himself in a strange place... It's important to realize that fairy land isn't some distant place, rather it exists in pocket dimensions all around. A grove of trees on someones farm could have the entire elf kingdom inside it. Most of the time a human walking through one of these groves of trees would think of it as only a few dozen feet across, but every once in a while it would expand to be many miles across.

Here in fairy land he finds a girl who has been enslaved by the fairies, but no one knew she was missing, because when she was kidnapped the fairies left a clay figure in her place with illusions cast over it so not even doctors could tell it wasn't her dead body.

 

Cats in Celtic Lore
Cats are fairies in their own right, with their own trooping courts and strange powers. When one man killed a cat out of anger, it told him that he would suffer for the deed. Later a kitten ripped at his throat with such fierceness that he died from the wound.

In another tale, a man is walking along when he sees a troop of cats holding a funeral. One of the cats tells him to tell his friend's cat that "the King of the Cat's has died." When he does so the cat perks up, declares himself the new King of Cats and runs off. There is a similar story from Denmark in which a young troll is banished from the court of trolls for getting too involved with the King of Trolls wives so he changes into a cat and moves into a home. In this case, of course the friend sees a troop of trolls holding the funeral, one of which tells him to speak to the cat. This story is still interesting because it shows that the same general story among two different cultures can hold different meanings.

In the story I include in this article you'll see that cats have influence over the affairs of the fairy court, and that like fairies, they can be kind to those who show them the slightest bit of kindness.

An old woman was sitting up very late spinning, when a knocking came to the door. "Who is there?" she asked. No answer; but still the knocking went on. "'Who is there?" she asked a second the. No answer; and the knocking continued. "Who is there?" she asked the third time, in a very angry passion.
Then there came a small voice--"Ah, Judy, agrah, let me in,--for I am cold and hungry; open the door, Judy, agrah, and let me sit by the fire, for the night is cold out here. Judy, agrah, let me in, let me in!"
The heart of Judy was touched, for she thought it was some small child that had lost its way, and she rose up from her spinning, and went and opened the door--when in walked a large black cat with a white breast, and two white kittens after her.
They all made over to the fire and began to warm and dry themselves, purring all the time very loudly; but Judy said never a word, only went on spinning.
Then the black cat spoke at last--"Judy, agrah, don't stay up so late again, for the fairies wanted to hold a council here tonight, and to have some supper, but you have prevented them; so they were very angry and determined to kill you, and only for myself and my two daughters here you would be dead by this time. So take my advice, don't interfere with the fairy hours again, for the night is theirs, and they hate to look on the face of a mortal when they are out for pleasure or business. So I ran on to tell you, and now give me a drink of milk, for I must be off."
And after the milk was finished the cat stood up, and called her daughters to come away.
"Good-night, Judy, agrah," she said. "You have been very civil to me, and I'll not forget it to you. Good-night, good night."
With that the black cat and the two kittens whisked up the chimney; but Judy looking down saw something glittering on the hearth, and taking it up she found it was a piece of silver, more than she ever could make in a month by her spinning, and she was glad in her heart, and never again sat up so late to interfere with the fairy hours, but the black cat and her daughters came no more again to the house.


Brownie Morality

Brownies tend to side with the owners of a household rather than with the poor servants. This is in clear contrast to The Queen of the Fairies across Europe who tends to side with the poor and even encourage theft.

ONE of the principal characteristics of the brownie was his anxiety about the moral conduct of the household to which he was attached. He was a spirit very much inclined to prick up his ears at the first appearance of any impropriety in the manners of his fellow-servants. The least delinquency committed either in barn, or cow-house, or larder, he was sure to report to his master, whose interests he seemed to consider paramount to every other thing in this world, and from whom no bribe could induce him to conceal the offences which fell under his notice. The men, therefore, and not less the maids, of the establishment usually regarded him with a mixture of fear, hatred, and respect; and though he might not often find occasion to do his duty as a spy, yet the firm belief that he would be relentless in doing so, provided that he did find occasion, had a salutary effect. A ludicrous instance of his zeal as guardian of the household morals is told in Peeblesshire. Two dairymaids, who were stinted in their food by a too frugal mistress, found themselves one day compelled by hunger to have recourse to the highly improper expedient of stealing a bowl of milk and a bannock, which they proceeded to devour, as they thought, in secret. They sat upon a form, with a space between, whereon they placed the bowl and the bread, and they took bile and sip alternately, each putting down the bowl upon the scat for a moment's space after taking a draught, and the other then taking it up in her hands, and treating herself in the same way. They had no sooner commenced their mess than the brownie came between the two, invisible, and whenever the bowl was set down upon the scat took also a draught; by which means, as he devoured fully as much as both put together, the milk was speedily exhausted. The surprise of the famished girls at finding the bowl so soon empty was extreme, and they began to question each other very sharply upon the subject, with mutual suspicion of unfair play, when the brownie undeceived them by exclaiming, with malicious glee--

"Ha! ha! ha!
Brownie hast a' I"

Ravens Shire is dedicated to helping writers and artists learn about the strange world of fairy tales, so if you have any questions or need any help understanding the fairy realm, please contact us.

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Visions of the Artists Behind Frozen - Part 1

Some of the most inspiring stories aren't the ones we see on the screen. They are the tales of the wonderful artists who make the movies we see possible. Of their beautiful, personal visions that come together to make something great.

These are the visions of some of those artists which worked on "Frozen."

Bobby Pontillas

Bobby knows what it's like to have to struggle, to have to fight for what he wants. 

“In 2009, I sent my work to almost every studio in the country, and got rejection letters from all of them,” Pontillas said." Yet a few years later he's worked on a Film from Blue Sky and two from Disney (Read The Interview Here)

I went to school with Bobby, I've never met a more dedicated or harder worker, and I've known a lot of very hard workers. More than this, however, he always seemed optimistic, he knew what he wanted and kept working towards it. 

Clio Chiang

Fawn Veerasunthorn

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5 Inspiring Russian Fairy Tales

Article by Ty Hulse

Russia is a liminal land, one which lies between the Shamans of Siberia, the Witches of Europe and the many folk beliefs of Asia. It's a place where tales of wolves resemble those of China and Japan, yet still retain European elements. Where shamans of the North East battle vampires and dragons, and travel to the edge of the world of the dead to work for Baba Yaga.

These five tales are very much representative of shamanism and the spirit world which is present in Russian lore and as always these fairy fairy tales are perhaps best used as writing prompts for your fantasy stories.

The Girl in The Well
(Translated by Raven's Shire)
A girl is sent by her wicked step-mother down a well where she enters the other world.

Note: The moral of many, if not most spirit journeys in Russian Lore is that kindness and hard work are the keys to survive. The spirits of the other world in these tales not only appreciate hard work, they demand it in most European folklore, killing those who don't work hard or fail to be kind, while rewarding those who do. Because of this the most important thing to surviving and becoming wealthy in the spirit world was hard work.


The Brothers Frost
(Translated by Raven's Shire)
Two playful frost spirits make a bet on who can freeze the most people. Like many similar tales about the spirit world this one has a heavy moral message against greed.


The Norka
A young prince who is constantly teased by his elder brothers enters the Other World in order to kill a beast which has been rampaging about his father's lands.

Note: The prince, like most shaman figures, is considered a fool by many who don't understand him. Witches, cunning, shamans, or whatever you wish to call them, were often seen as fools because they lived in a different world than most people. Like modern day nerds they were clever and intelligent, they just didn't always mesh with society's expectations.

Here too kindness is important to survival and success in the Other World. The shaman figure in this story covers up some nestlings with his jacket to keep them warm, and because of this their mother promises to help him succeed in his quest.


The Baba Yaga
Another tale of a shamanistic girl, sent by her stepmother to meet with her step-aunt who happens to be Baba Yaga, a potential guardian of the realm of the dead in Russian Lore.... Though the exact nature of Baba Yaga is always hard to figure out (Learn more about Baba Yaga here.)

This story also shows the propensity for shamanistic figures to shape and build the land, often in their attempts to escape or defeat their enemies. Once people in many places could point to features in the land and say that this hill, that forest, etc. was created by someone in one tale or another.


The Coffin Lid
A man steals the lid to a Vampire's coffin and uses it to blackmail the vampire into telling him how to cure those he has attacked.

Of course, as with any writing prompt you could take this a step further and have the man blackmail the vampire to force it to help him with, or tell him anything. What you would you do if you had control over a vampire? What would a mayor do? A Criminal? A Junior Executive at a company?


Raven's Shire is dedicated to helping writers and artists learn about the strange world of fairy tales, so if you have any questions or need any help understanding the fairy realm, please contact us.

 

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Rumpelstiltskin Tales

The story of Rumpelstiltskin re-envisioned based on my analysis of the tale, which you can read here.


Rumpelstiltskin has multiple forms, one for each of his different personalities and moods. For this story I make him an overly caring but mischievous woodland spirit so this is his more playful form.

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"Rumpelstiltskin and the Fox"
There are multiple short stories which I've written for this project. This is just one of them.

The ancient männlein was so light he left no tracks in even the softest of snow as he kicked his way through the orchard gathering berries as he returned to his spinning wheel with a new pair of scissors.
“Hello little männlein,” a beautiful witch greeted him with a wicked grin.
“Hello,” the männlein greeted her back with a cherry wave and a short bow as he noticed that the bag the witch was carrying kicked and whined. “What do we have here?” The männlein asked her as he cocked his head curiously at the back.
“A young fox cub I found lost in the woods,” the witch told him, “with whom I expect to make a fine hat and dinner.”
“It must be a fine cub indeed for it to be good enough to make a hat that highlights how pretty your eyes are the way the raccoon's pelt you have does,” the männlein told the witch with a bow. “But a foxes flesh is tough and gammy for they eat mice unlike me who eats berries.”
“Indeed,” the witch agreed with a nod both flattered and suddenly hungry as she eyed the tasty looking männlein who was indeed munching on sweet berries. In a heart beat she’d snatched the little man up by his foot and started to dangle him into her bag.
“Wait,” he told her, “if you put me in the bag with the fox it might eat me and than what will you have?”
The witch thought about this for a moment and decided that she’d best let the fox out of the bag before putting the männlein into it. So she shook the bag until the little kit tumbled out into the snow. Sh than dumped the männlein in into the sack and started on her way once more.
“Your so light its as if I’m not even carrying anything,” the witch noted as she carried the männlein along.
“Yes,” the männlein agreed as he pulled out his pair of spinning scissors out of his pocket and began to cut through the bag and slipped out into the snow. The witch didn’t even notice that the nearly weightless männlein had run off to join the baby fox who was hiding in a thicket of thorn bushes.
“Hello,” the männlein greeted the tiny shuddering animal with a gentle pat on its head. “We need to run before the witch realizes that I’m gone,” than as if on cue  the witch realized she’d been  tricked and screamed in rage.
“Come on,” he told the fox as he picked her up and ran as fast as he could the witch flying close on their heels. The männlein pulled out a brush and tossed it behind him and it became a thicket of threes but the witch flew over it, he pulled out a rag and tossed it behind him and it became a mountain but the witch flew around it. He went sliding across an icy river and asked it for help so the river pulled him and the fox down under its ice in a pocket of air where the witch could not catch them.

“Thank you river,” the männlein told the water with a bow after he and the baby fox climbed out of it. “Do you have anywhere to stay, a mother or a father?” The männlein  asked the young fox who was shaking herself dry.
“No,” the fox cried, “I have no one.”
“You can live with me,” the männlein told her as they walked through the woods.

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